I first met John in 1985 when we both worked at Vassar Brothers Hospital. We then went on to work together, on and off, for nearly 20 years. For all those who know John, you can imagine I’ve got a lot of Cas stories from that many years.
John was always finding the humor in things. John had a collapsed lung when we worked at Vassar. Even in his pain and discomfort he found the humor in the fact that when we called over to the ER they made us call 911 and have an ambulance come get him from the building we were in and take him literally 300 yards across the parking lot to the building the ER was in. We were all mad but John thought it was funny.
John knew things. For example, he somehow knew that the big block Chevy engine I had in my Camaro won’t turn 6,000 RPMs. Of course I was going to show him… So there we went, 120 MPH down the Dulles Toll road when BOOM!!! The bottom end of the engine blew out. Did I mention that John found the humor in things… Although it wasn’t funny when it started to rain and we were trying to find a way home.
John was clever. Although I wasn’t there, he enjoyed telling the story of working at a gas station back in MA. In was cold but the manager had placed a box over the thermostat so the employees couldn’t turn up the heat. The other kid working there was spending a lot of time trying to break into the box with no avail. John, simply picked up a plastic bag, filled it with snow and placed it on top of the box. The heat kicked on immediately…
John was generous. At a time when I had no place to live John let me move in with him. No rent, no time line. Just helping out a friend.
John touched the lives of many people in many ways.
John will be missed.
Keith##imported-begin##Keith & Linda Hagen##imported-end##